Not even remotely close: How co-location imbalance affects subgroup formation in hybrid teams

Abstract

Despite the substantial proliferation of hybrid work, little has been done to reconcile extant individual- and team-level perspectives. This is problematic because it does not acknowledge how individuals' hybrid work practices constrain team-level interactions and subsequent outcomes. Specifically, the extant literature does not yet capture the complex configurations that result from team members alternating between co-located and remote forms of collaboration and how these may provoke the formation of subgroups within the team. In this conceptual paper, we introduce the construct co-location imbalance, which we define as the disparity in co-location between different combinations of team members, as a way of capturing geographic configurations in hybrid teams. Through illustrative hybrid teamwork archetypes, we demonstrate the meaning and implications of co-location imbalance on subgroup formation. We then map out a nomological network surrounding co-location imbalance and derive testable propositions on its temporal dynamics and antecedents. Our paper concludes with a discussion of our research's theoretical and practical contributions and directions to advance future research on hybrid teamwork.